Monday, May 20, 2013
No sign that the owlets fell out of the box. We have a theory- there seemed to be fewer visits from the male than last year and we wonder if some misfortune befell him. If the male had not been making food dropoffs, I assume that hunger would drive her from the nest to hunt. Oddly she never seemed to call out to the male as she did last year. After last year's brood arrived she called out almost continuously- but not at all this year. The external camera was knocked off it's mount so I was unable to see if the male perched on the roof as he had in the recent past. We do have a motion sensor on the internal camera which early on had been capturing all movement in the box and e mailing stills to one of our PCs- will check and see if there is any record of their disappearance. I wonder how long chicks could withstand temperatures in the 50s and 60s if the mother owl was out hunting?
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Seems it wasn't cold enough for 3 snuggled owlets to have died from exposure. If the dad wasn't delivering, she may have felt the clutch wouldn't survive and may have consumed them. All guesses on my part. If Barney has disappeared, then Betty, w/o her owlets, will hunt on her own and may find another mate, and either come back to this box, or you may find another couple taking it over.
ReplyDeleteInstinct is such a powerful force! Clearly there has to be a steady supply of food for there to be a chance of survival. Oddly it seems as though I've seen fewer rats mice and rabbits around lately- I can't tell if it has to do with the cycle of seasons, some decline in the mammal population or perhaps it is just a hunch.
ReplyDeleteOver at Fred & Wilma's in Poway, California, this season. She had 5 eggs and abandoned them. There may indeed be a problem with the rodent population. Sad, but sadder still when they've hatched.
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